Week 27

1) In your own words and using referenced quotes explain why strategy theories developed in the last 10 years tend to be quite different from those developed in the 1960’s

During 1960s, companies usually planned for long term but now due to rapid change in business environment companies are forced to develop unique and creative strategies. Now, companies undertake extreme competition which leads them to think of short term strategies. Before, companies used to adopt deliberate strategic implementation but now emergent strategic implementation is more popular among companies. In 1960s, companies were not focused on developing new products and services hence were not experimenting but now competition to bring better products and services is at peak. Companies keep experimenting for new business model, processes and strategies. To sum up some main reasons behind development of strategies in the last 10 years is because of more complex business environment, large number of competitors, modern technology, change in attitude of labor, macro and micro economic factors etc.

According to Rod Blagojevich " A successful economic development strategy must focus on improving the skills of the area's workforce, reducing the cost of doing business and making available the resources business needs to compete and thrive in today's global economy." (brainy quote, 2013)

2) You attend a job interview for an entry level managerial position and mention that you completed 30 week strategy module. Your interviewer seems interested and explains that this job role would enable you to become involved in the strategy making process. In 200 to 300 words explain to your interviewer how the module has helped to prepare you for a strategy role.

After completing 30 week strategy module, I can certainly say that I can somehow help in strategy making process of any company. The module aims to deliver everything what a strategist require. Likewise, the teaching methodology and learning outcomes has helped me to build the confidence of being a strategist. The module covers almost all the aspects of building a strategy. From strategic planning to implementation, past to futures of strategy, strategic management, various analytic tools and strategic leadership style were all included in the module.

Every session of this module had a case study, reading and understanding these case studies has enhanced my knowledge about importance of strategy in every industry. It has helped me to understand different techniques and tools which can be applied practically during strategy making process. The module not only focused on building our strategy making skills but also helped to discover and develop other skills. Like, group video work as an activity during this module has build up my ability to work in group. I had also given presentation on different topics while studying this module which has developed my presentation skills and communication skills.

In the end, I am confident I will welcome any chance of being involved in the strategy making process and being a successful strategist or maybe a good strategic leader in future because I have enhanced my knowledge and skills after completing this module.

Case Study

1. Why has Lady Gaga been so successful? What strategy has she followed?

Lady Gaga began to achieve success as a songwriter and vocalist, recording her debut album, The Fame, in 2008. She has been successful because she has tried something different from other artists of her generation. The visual images she projects and her public appearance has helped her become popular. She has attracted both attention and controversy to become successful. There is no doubt that she is a talented artist but despite being good artist she has been more famous because of her controversies, fashion style and last but not the least her followers or audiences.

She follows a perfect product placement strategy. Before releasing an album she goes on world tour and performs songs from her upcoming albums, this way she can directly reach to her audiences and when she releases her songs in internet same audiences download or listen to her song making her one of the most followed artist in social media sites.

2. If you were advising her on her future strategy – what analysis would you undertake? What models or theories would you use?

If I had to advise Lady Gaga about her future strategy I would use strategy theory responses. I would use rapid adaptation theory and creative and strategic thinking theory.

As rapid adaptation theory suggests us that competitive advantage can be withhold with adapting or changing according to new environment. Lady Gaga is well renowned for her unusual fashion style, songs and being a talented piano player. She must continue with these features to attract audiences. Likewise, she must experiment more with her music and bring out new genre or create new type of songs which no one has heard before. She must be able to get updated about modern technologies which can help her to reach to her audiences easily.

Creative and strategic thinking theory believes in developing a culture that fosters creativity within organization. Lady Gaga has her own creative production team, the Haus of Gaga. They maintain control over her over the image, music and management of Lady Gaga. This team must work effectively to bring out more creative products for her. They must keep experimenting new fashion style and music genre to attract more audiences.

3. What advice would you give her?

My advice for her would be same as discussed above in question 2.

References:

brainy quote, 2013. Economic development quotes. [Online]
Available at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/economic_development.html
[Accessed 11 January 2013].

Week 23

1) In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what is meant by the term “Strategic Leadership”.

Strategic leadership can be defined as someone who can anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, and empower others to create strategic change as necessary. A manager with strategic leadership skills exhibits the ability to guide the company through the new competitive landscape by influencing the behavior, thoughts, and feelings of co-workers, managing through others and successfully processing or making sense of complex, ambiguous information by successfully dealing with change and uncertainty (I. o. C. A. o., 2010).

2)  Identify two interesting similarities and two differences between the 5 Elements of successful and Effective Strategic Leadership model and the Transcendent Leadership model

Two interesting similarities of 2 elements of successful and effective strategic leadership model and the Transcendent Leadership model are:

•  Both of these models focus on maintaining good relationship among leader and their follower.
• Main objective of both leadership style is to achieve company's goals and objectives

Two differences are:

• Lynch model is more focused on motivating and rewarding employees whereas Transcendent Leadership model believes in managing the relation between leaders and followers.
• Lynch model mainly focuses on people within the organization whereas Transcendent model focuses on nonhuman elements like strategy, structure, rules and procedures.

3. How would you describe Jeff Bezos strategic leadership style?

Is there evidence that he demonstrate all the elements of strategic leadership from the two

Models? Which elements are strongly evident in the case and which less so?

(Think about all five elements of the Lynch model and all three elements of the transcendent leadership model)

I think Jeff Bezos demonstrates all the elements of strategic leadership from the two models. The Lynch model focuses more on activities within an organization and transcendent leadership model talks both inside and outside of organization. Jeff Bezos is focused about maintaining a best working environment which leads to organizational effectiveness likewise effectively communicating with external stakeholders about their long term views.

According to him, the interest of stakeholders and the customers are essential factors for the growth of the company and must focus on doing good job for company rather bothering about competitor's plan. He frequently gives interview so that he could communicate with the stakeholder's and let them know about how company is operating and what are their principles.

Although he did not talk about rewarding his employees and leadership of self but still I think he is a perfect character to describe as strategic leader who posses all the elements which are required by Lynch model and Transcendent leadership model.

(Source: Crossan, M., Vera, D and Nanjad, L. (2008) Transcendent Leadership: strategic leadership in dynamic environments, T)

References:

Crossan, M., Vera, D and Nanjad, L. (2008) Transcendent Leadership: strategic leadership in dynamic environments, T

India, I. o. C. A. o., 2010. Strategic Management. New Delhi: Sahitya Bhawan Publications.

 Lynch,  R., (2009) Strategic Management, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, chapter 16

Week 22

1) What is your understanding on the Balanced Score Card approach? How useful is it for the Companies?

Balanced Score card is used to check how the strategy obtained can be applied throughout the organization. It can be used by managers to make sure whether employees are executing the task properly or not (Pro.N,2013). Some of the benefits of using Balance Score card are as follows:

• Provides a comprehensive view of the whole organization
• It drives changes in organizational behavior/ performance
• It gets everyone focused and aligned to the organization’s strategy
• People will use it & support it because people support what they help build
• It allows effective communication of strategy throughout the organization
• It captures the value of business both tangible & intangible
• It adds discipline and structure to the day-to-day organizational operations
• It is very flexible and adaptable

2) Identify and list the 20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Card.

20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Card are:

Financial Perspective:

•  Return on Capital
• Economic value added
• Sales growth
• Cost reduction
• Cost of goods sold

Customer Perspective:

• Customer satisfaction
• Customer retention
• Acquisition of new customers
• Concern classification
• Average resolution time
• Customer service chart count

Internal Perspective:

•  Manufacturing cost
• Job turnover
• Product quality
• Stock turnover and inventory management
• Average order size

Future Perspective:

•  New product development record
• R&D core competencies
• Employee retention
• Employee profitability

3) Present your thoughts and understanding on the article “The Strategic Management process”

In a hyper competitive marketplace, companies can operate successfully by creating and delivering superior value to target customers and constantly adapting to changing business environment. So to meet changing conditions in their industries, company must develop long-term strategies. Strategic Management is required to create competitive advantage and to guide company successfully through all changed in the environment (I. o. C. A. o., 2010).

Although strategic management has 7 stages but it can be summarized in 5 different stages that are:

•  Setting Vision and Mission
• Setting objectives
• Creating a strategy to achieve the objectives
• Implementing the chosen strategy effectively.
• Evaluating performance and add corrective measures

References

pro, N., 2013. Balanced Score card Kenya. [Online]
Available at: http://balancedscorecardkenya.com/why-balanced-scorecard/
[Accessed 2013].

Lynch,R (2012) Strategic Management 6thed. Chapter 13

India, I. o. C. A. o., 2010. Strategic Management. New Delhi: Sahitya Bhawan Publications.

Week 21

  1.      What are the benefits and drawbacks of taking an ‘emergent’ approach to strategy making?

By choosing 'emergent' strategy it leads a business to provide what the market actually wants, rather than what the owner or executive's thinks or believes the market wants. This approach requires that the organization maintain the flexibility, particularly at the owner or executive level, to embrace the new strategy.

Drawback of 'emergent' strategy is this approach works only on ongoing organizational activity. This approach does not offer a genuine alternative to more traditional intended strategy follower. (Dontigney, 2013)

2.      Was Honda’s entry strategy in the US more deliberate or emergent?

Honda's strategy seems like an emergent approach. Although they thought that Americans would love heavy and big motorcycles and were emphasizing on selling 250cc and 305cc bikes, people were more interested in Supercubs type which was small 50cc bike.

3.      Which of the accounts seems more accurate and why? Why do you think the two accounts differ so much?

The second account seems more accurate because it is based on an interview with Honda executives and they have provided all the reasoning for succeeding and failure in US market.

The two accounts differ because the first article is based on the research done by a consultant group i.e. Boston consulting group and the second article is based on the interview with executives of company itself.

4.      Did Honda’s entry strategy demonstrate the characteristics of ‘logical incrementalism’?

Yes, I think Honda's strategy demonstrates characteristics of 'logical incrementalism'.

Environmental Uncertainty:

In Japan, Honda was more popular because of its light weight segments bike but when they entered US market they had to adapt to US market where heavy bikes were preferred. Likewise, they also had to advertise widely to change people's mindset about bike riders; they spent spent $1 million in advertisement with slogan “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda.” People were inspired and started to buy the bikes.

General Goals:

They had no strategy other than the idea of seeing if they could sell something in the United States. It was a new frontier, a new challenge for them to fit in. They did not calculate the profits and only wanted to succeed in the market.

Experimentation:

Honda's larger bikes were not robust enough for American riders and they started having engine failures. While waiting for the engineers to upgrade the design, the staff in the U.S. continued to hit the streets. They rode around doing errands in Los Angeles on Honda's small lightweight bike, the 50cc Super Cub. The success of the Super Cubs eventually translated into success with larger bikes, and Honda went from no presence at all in the U.S. market in 1959 to 63% of the market.

5.      Do you think Honda would have been more or less successful if they had adopted a more formalised strategic planning approach to the launch?

No, I don't think Honda would have been more successful if they had adopted more formalized strategic planning because while entering into new market one must never over-plan and stick with emerging approach and change according to what market wants. This doesn't mean being goal less, but market can be unpredictable so company must always be ready to tackle changes.

References:

 Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 12

Dontigney, E., 2013. yourbusiness.azcentral.com. [Online] 

Available at: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/advantage-disadvantage-emergent-strategy-15781.html
[Accessed 2013].

Activity Week 20

Week 18

1. How can using the Change Kaleidoscope and Force-field analysis help an organisation to deliver its intended strategy?

Change Kaleidoscope is a model which analyses whether the organization requires any change or not. The kaleidoscope contains an outer ring which shows the features which supports limits or remains neutral during change and inner ring which has implementation options to change agents. there are eight contextual features of change kaleidoscope, which are: (proworkproject.com,2013).

Time:	How quickly is change needed? Is the organisation in crisis or is it concerned with longer-term strategic development?
Scope:	What degree of change is needed? Does the change affect the whole organisation or only part of it?
Preservation:	What organisational assets, characteristics and practices need to be maintained and protected during change?
Diversity:	Are the different staff / professional groups and divisions within the organisation relatively homogeneous or more diverse in terms of values, norms and attitudes?
Capability:	What is the level of organisational, managerial and personal capability to implement change? Is there a need to improve this capability before the change process can be started?
Capacity:	How much resource can organisation invest in the proposed change in terms of cash, people and time?
Readiness for change:	How ready for change are the employees within the organisation? Are they both aware of the need for change and motivated to deliver changes?
Power:	Where is the power vested within the organisation? How much latitude of discretion does the unit needing to change and the change leader possess?

Force Field Analysis is used to evaluate various forces which are for and against a projected change. After evaluating the pros and cons of projected change, we can make strategies to eradicate forces which are against and strengthen the supporting forces. This model can be used to identify important stakeholders of organization or identifying competitors and partners.

2. Use the Change Kaleidoscope to describe and analyse the change context at Hewlett-Packard at the time of Meg Whitman’s arrival in September 2011.

HP was in desperate need of change, although 3 CEO's were changed within two and half years there was no sign of change or let's say company was struggling for right direction.

Time: 

Although Meg Whitman says it will take five years to change things in HP, I think some immediate changes are required. As profit of the company is lowering every year we can say that company is in crisis. Likewise, some directors and employees are used to traditional organizational culture which needs to be changed immediately.

Scope:

Some extent of change is required for current situation. Poor management team, leadership style, and employee autonomy has seized creativity and barely innovated anything. Previous CEO Hurd says, "HP has been operated with an eye toward the short term", which shows company needs to strategize for long term and start working on employee motivation, work environment and ethics of employees.

Preservation:  

After when Whitman came she changed the parking system of organization, likewise when HP opened customer meeting center it looked modern and impressed many people, but the oak tree which William Hewlett and David Packard planted in 1960s was still there which shows new CEO's philosophy making today's HP like what it was back then. But Whitman must surely work on employee's characteristics and be strict towards directors or managers who are leaking vital information of the company.

Diversity:

In my opinion, staffs and professional groups of the company are diversified. Some of the employees are not willing to make their company better. As there is a dispute among directors so it is obvious employees motivation and attitude towards company will be negative which needs to be changed.

Capability:

HP surely has capability to change; it was no.10 on the fortune 500 and has sales of $127billion in 2011. Employees of the company are highly qualified but due to poor management system they are not able to give their best. Managerial capability must be changed to stop down fall of the company 

Capacity:

If company can use their people's capability to full extent they don't have to exploit other resources. As the profit of the company is falling every year they must work on a very short to regain its earlier position.

Readiness:

At first employees were not happy with the new CEO but they were surely aware of need of change for the betterment of the company. If the new CEO help these employees to be motivated and create good impression by changing some negative forces of company, employees can commit to implement changes.

Power:

Company has always emphasized on employee autonomy, but due to poor management team employees cannot work well. Although company must start working for long term some immediate changes on management team and leadership style must be changed.

References:

Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 14

Hope Hailey V, Balogun,J., (2002), 'Devising context sensitive approaches to change: the example of Glaxo Wellcome.', Long Range Planning, 35(2), p.153-178 

Week 17

1. Can you think of an organization that has implemented a ‘high risk strategy’ that has resulted in success (why was it high risk at the time and why was it a success – was it good luck or good judgement)?

I think Samsung entering into mobile phone market was high risk strategy and has resulted in success. Before 2000 Samsung were more focused on home appliances and in early 2000 they entered into mobile phone market for the first time. During their time of entrance they could not compete with other well established mobile companies like Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Later in mid 2000 when the trend of Smartphone was growing Samsung went from selling zero phones to quarterly sales of 50 million units in two years. In 2008 Samsung took no.1 spot in U.S. mobile market and now it has the largest market share in mobile phone market with 32.1% market share (Samsung, 2013).

2. Now, do the same for an organization who embarked on a high risk strategy that resulted in some sort of failure (why was it high risk and why did it fail – bad luck or poor judgment?)

I have chosen Kingfisher Airlines as an organization which embarked on a high risk strategy and resulted in some sort of failure. Although most of the management gurus and experts say the failure of Kingfisher Airlines is because of global recession of 2008 but there were other many reasons behind the failure. First of all, the owner of the company Mr. Vijay Mallya didn't take suggestions on business operations and didn't involve any skilled executives in decision making process. Likewise, he squandered the opportunity of attracting middle class families by projecting Kingfisher as elite or executive class airlines. The major cause of failure of this company was because of poor judgment made by the executives or owner.

References:

G. Johnson and K. Scholes (eds), Exploring Techniques of Analysis and Evaluation in Strategic Management, Prentice Hall, 1998.

Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 14 

Samsung, 2013. Samsung.com. [Online]
Available at: http://www.samsung.com/in/aboutsamsung/
[Accessed 25 11 2013].